Hitches?

[Surveyor226]

Originally Posted by Chief T

That's good, what is your payload capacity for the Expy? You have to include tongue weight and weight of the WDH into your payload.

Gross trailer weight rating is 9200. Ours is a 2WD EL with the heavy duty trailer package.

[Surveyor226]

Originally Posted by Beachbourbon

Has anyone used the hitch offered by harbor freight?

https://www.harborfreight.com/10000-...tem-67649.html

This looks like a knock off of my current Reese Pro Series. The Pro Series comes with a sway bar and hitch ball from Amazon for $233. The HF hitch is probably OK for weight distribution but won't help on sway issues unless you add a sway bar. For the price difference, you'd be ahead with the Pro Series on Amazon. However, for me, the sway control was inadequate.

[dbledan]

I have experience with 2 types.

Propride P3 which will solve any sway problems but given your weights may be too heavy for the expy. It has a learning curve for hook up and disconnect and is 6x more expensive than others but pays for itself in comfort and confidence while driving. No grease or bars to store and built in anti theft[emoji6]. Long install but great support. I am curious why go west left the Hensley Arrow....it would not have the weight issues the propride does and would address sway in a similar manner.

The blueox swaypro was good as well. No greasy bars easy setup. Reasonable price. Can upgrade bars and use the same hitch. No noise driving or backing. Quick install. Built in sway control. Poor bar that I swapped for a breaker bar to save knuckles. It performed well but I needed more control and less sway but I believe that was trailer specific.

[Go West]

Originally Posted by dbledan

I am curious why go west left the Hensley Arrow....it would not have the weight issues the propride does and would address sway in a similar manner...

I towed an Outback trailer with a Hensley Arrow hitch for six years. (We sold the trailer and hitch when the kids got to college age a few years ago.) As I prepared to get back into RV’ing this year, I learned that many new hitches have been introduced since I bought the Hensley in 2007. Eleven years ago, we did not have systems like the current Andersen, Blue Ox Sway Pro, Reese Strait-Line, Pro-Pride and many others. I decided to try one of the newer, less expensive systems, knowing I could return to a Hensley if I wasn’t satisfied.

I’ve been pleased with the Husky Centerline hitch in my first season of towing my new trailer. While I haven’t experienced trailer sway, I have felt the trailer jiggle at times from stiff crosswinds or the gust of a passing semi. In these conditions, the hitch provides near-immediate correction of the trailer to straight-line towing. In terms of weight distribution, the Centerline hitch performs at least as well as my Hensley Arrow did – and probably better – in redistributing tongue weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle.

I understand why some people invest in a Hensley or Pro-Pride hitch – I’ve done it myself. I also know that many experienced RV’ers are completely satisfied with the performance of other modern anti-sway hitch systems. Having a well-matched tow vehicle and trailer, and properly setting up the weight distribution hitch of your choice, are the most important factors to ensuring a safe and satisfying towing experience.

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by Go West

I towed an Outback trailer with a Hensley Arrow hitch for six years. (We sold the trailer and hitch when the kids got to college age a few years ago.) As I prepared to get back into RV’ing this year, I learned that many new hitches have been introduced since I bought the Hensley in 2007. Eleven years ago, we did not have systems like the current Andersen, Blue Ox Sway Pro, Reese Strait-Line, Pro-Pride and many others. I decided to try one of the newer, less expensive systems, knowing I could return to a Hensley if I wasn’t satisfied.

I’ve been pleased with the Husky Centerline hitch in my first season of towing my new trailer. While I haven’t experienced trailer sway, I have felt the trailer jiggle at times from stiff crosswinds or the gust of a passing semi. In these conditions, the hitch provides near-immediate correction of the trailer to straight-line towing. In terms of weight distribution, the Centerline hitch performs at least as well as my Hensley Arrow did – and probably better – in redistributing tongue weight to the front axle of the tow vehicle.

I understand why some people invest in a Hensley or Pro-Pride hitch – I’ve done it myself. I also know that many experienced RV’ers are completely satisfied with the performance of other modern anti-sway hitch systems. Having a well-matched tow vehicle and trailer, and properly setting up the weight distribution hitch of your choice, are the most important factors to ensuring a safe and satisfying towing experience.

Agree completely. Thanks for sharing!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Go West

I understand why some people invest in a Hensley or Pro-Pride hitch – I’ve done it myself. I also know that many experienced RV’ers are completely satisfied with the performance of other modern anti-sway hitch systems. Having a well-matched tow vehicle and trailer, and properly setting up the weight distribution hitch of your choice, are the most important factors to ensuring a safe and satisfying towing experience.

Well stated! The PP or Hensley are great if you have a marginal tow vehicle or you have the money to burn and want the best.
But as you said in the last line, a well-matched towing combo will be perfectly fine with a quality WDH with integrated sway control. You don't need to spend all that money.
I've had my $400 4pt Equal-i-zer for 12 years now and it's a dream towing. BUT I make sure I have a well-matched towing combo and a TV with plenty of payload and towing capacity for the job.

[DieselDrax]

I went from a Fastway e2 (step down from the Equal-i-zer 4-point hitch) to an Andersen for a couple of reasons...

- I was having problems with the brackets on the trailer staying in place, I suspect it may have been due to the L brackets that hold the bars in place getting stuck at an angle and then popping during turning which had enough force to also cause the brackets to shift. Doesn't seem to be a common problem so not sure why I had this happen multiple times during our trip this summer.

- The hitch head is heavy and I have a back injury that is easy to aggravate if I lift/turn wrong, then I pay for it for 1-2 days.

- Adjusting the e2 isn't all that fun to get it just right.

- With the e2 I was experiencing a bit of jounce over certain bumps and bridges/overpasses on the freeway.

The Andersen is light, easy to hook up, silent, and easy to adjust to get the weight transfer just right for each trip if needed. To me it also feels like the truck and trailer work more as one unit and I have less jounce. Hard to say if the sway control is any better or worse than the e2, I have the red cone with my Andersen (They have changed cones over time which changes the friction/sway/wear). I never had sway problems or white-knuckle experiences with wither one, but I feel like the Andersen with the red cone may not be quite as good in the anti-sway department.

There are a lot of good hitches out there with a lot of different prices and various advantages and disadvantages. The experience also depends a lot on the tow vehicle and trailer combo, you could have the best hitch and have a poor towing experience if the vehicles aren't a good match, similarly you could have the worst hitch and a great towing experience (Think HD pickup and smaller trailer).

Lots of variables to consider, good luck!

[HappyCamper1962]

Originally Posted by TeachTexas

X2

Another vote for the 4-point Equalizer. We tow with a Ford EB Expedition and have moved ours from rig to rig for the past 7 years and it is still as good as new..... excellent WDH.